5 Best Vitamins and Nutrients for a Slow Metabolism

There is a huge body of evidence that supports this strategy for keeping your metabolism healthier... not only where weight loss is concerned, but also for your overall health and longevity.   The genesis of this strategy is based on groundbreaking research at the Salk Institute in LaJolla, California where scientists discovered that the timing of when you eat may be more important than exactly what you eat in determining whether you gain weight because your metabolism is slowing down.

The premise is that your body's metabolism is designed to run best with intermittent periods of eating followed by periods of non-eating or fasting. With this approach, it's a 8-hour eating window followed by a 16 hours of non-eating which enhances a cascade of fat-burning hormones in your body. The 8-hour period can be adjusted to best suit you. The "ideal" 8-hour period has been found to be between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM.  However, you can choose whatever hours you feel would work best with your schedule. 

Eating some protein at each meal can naturally increase your metabolism for a few hours. This is called the thermic effect of food (TEF). It’s caused by the extra calories required to digest, absorb and process the nutrients in your meal. Protein causes the largest rise in TEF. It increases your metabolic rate by 15–30%, compared to 5–10% for carbs and 0–3% for fats.

Eating protein has also been shown to help you feel more full and prevent you from overeating.  Eating more protein at each meal can also reduce the unfortunate drop in metabolism that often occurs when you indiscriminately diet for too long trying to lose excess body fat. This is because it reduces muscle loss and supports a steadier rate of calories burn by your body's "internal engine", your metabolism.

There is a specific way to activate your muscles so that your metabolism stays healthy and burns the right type of fuel in your body... rather than store it.  And notice, I didn't say the word "exercise".  That's because you can essentially perform 5 specific movements against some static resistance that will stimulate your muscles for the day and enable your metabolism to process the foods you eat more efficiently.

The 5 movements are best performed using resistance bands in which you push or pull against the resistance and HOLD in the top position for 30-60 seconds.  These 5 movements are known as "compound movements" and will activate over 90% of all the muscles in your body including the chest, back, biceps, triceps, and legs.

Even if you're a non-exerciser or haven't done anything in the way of physical exercise since high school gym class, these muscle activation movements are easy to perform and go a long way to helping anyone whose metabolism has slowed down.

For the resistance bands, we recommend using this Bodylastics Resistance Bands Set that includes everything you need to perform all 5 movements and more right in the convenience of your home.   Here are the 5 Muscle Activation Movements to perform:

Water accounts for well over half of your body weight -- 50 to 60 percent for women and 60 to 65 percent for men. Each day you routinely lose a certain amount of fluid through perspiration and the elimination of wastes. It should hardly come as a surprise to learn that dehydration can compromise the efficiency of most body functions, including metabolism. Research indicates that optimal hydration can help to jump-start a sluggish metabolism.

Since your body has to expend energy to warm the fluid to body temperature, and the more energy expended by your body, the faster your metabolism works.  That's why it makes sense to consume at least half of your body weight in fluid ounces of water up to 128 ounces per day.

To help you make hydration a priority each day, it's best to have a water bottle that is both attractive and motivating.  We recommend the Venture Pal 1 Gallon/128 OZ Motivational BPA Free Leakproof Water Bottle. 

Your metabolism ticks around the clock. Researchers at Columbia University in New York City found that people who slept six hours or less per night were 23 percent more likely to be overweight due to a slower metabolism than those who slept seven to nine hours. 

"It may have to do with two hormones? Leptin, which suppresses appetite, and grehlin, which increases food intake and is thought to play a role in regulation of body weight," says Gerard E. Mullin, MD, of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. 

"Lack of sleep lowers leptin and raises levels of grehlin." The takeaway... Establish a set schedule to obtain at least eight hours of sleep each night.